Bomb Blast in Rangoon Park Injures Three

A bomb explosion in a crowded public park in Rangoon on Thursday morning injured three people, eye-witnesses reported.

The explosion occurred in the Maha Bandoola Garden in Rangoon’s Kyauktada Township. Eye witnesses said riot police rushed to the scene.

No official statement on the blast has yet been released.

Security has been tightened in Rangoon and other Burmese cities as people commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 1988 national uprising and last September’s mass demonstrations, which were brutally suppressed by the authorities. Apart from Rangoon, security was reported to be particularly tight in Pegu, Sittwe Township in Arakan State and Pakokku Township in Magwe Division, where thousands of monks marched in anti-government demonstrations one year ago.   

A bomb attack on September 11 in Kyaukkyi Township, in Pegu Division, which killed two people and injured nine others, was blamed by the regime on the Karen National Union (KNU). The KNU strongly denied responsibility, issuing a statement saying: “We categorically deny involvement either in this or any other attacks against the Burmese people.”

The statement added: “We do not condone the use of violence against the civilian population and remain steadfast in seeking a peaceful solution to the current political problems that have been plaguing the country.”

In early July, a bomb explosion ripped through the offices of the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Association in suburban Rangoon’s Shwe Pyi Thar Township. There were no casualties.

An armed students’ group in exile, the Vigorous Burma Student Warriors, later claimed responsibility for the bombing. 

Following the July blast, military authorities increased nighttime patrols by security forces in army trucks and set up checkpoints around the city. The state-run media warned the public to remain alert and report any suspicious activity.